Growing in Grace

God is with us. . . and Provides And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus . -Philippians 4:19 . . . We all know the mothering potholes of patience, sleep, money, creative ideas, and self-confidence. We can feel empty in those areas - as in vacant. The other synonym strain for empty is empty as in meaningless, purposeless, and pointless. Big difference. But the same God exists over a broken budget and a broken spirit. He is a God who provides. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted" (Matthew 5:3-4). We are not told, "Blessed are those who want new shoes, for they will be sent an anonymous gift card in the mail." Too often we see what we don't have, instead of what we do. Too often our idea of provision is getting what we want, instead of accepting what God wants to give us. . . . I love the story in the Bible of how God

Jesus said, "'Love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all of your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." -Matthew 22:37-40 Loving God and loving people. In her book "Dancing with my Father", Sally Clarkson writes, "Joy is connected to relationship." (p. 126) 1 John 4:16 tells us "God is love." Sally goes on to say that "friendships and family relationships can be the places we most feel God's love as we experience it at the hands of human beings." (p. 126) "Friendship doubles our joy and divides our grief." -Swedish Proverb As Sally wrote about her special friend, Gwen, whom she met in Poland as a missionary; I was reminded of the special friends I have had over the years and how each one has brought special joy to my life and

If we want to be followers of God, we first need to know what is important to Him and how to follow His commands. God, like a father, wants what is best for us; so He has given us rules to live by. When we follow His ways, we please Him (Colossians 1:10). God did not give us the law with the expectation that we would be able to follow it on our own. The law shows us God’s holiness (James 1:22-25).  We see that on our own, we are not righteous (Romans 3:23). There is no way we can meet His standards on our own.  When we realize that we are sinners, separated from God because of our sin, we are led to Jesus. It is only through the forgiveness of our sins through Christ’s death on the cross that we are made right with God (Romans 5:8; 10:9; 10:13). With the gift of the Holy Spirit, we are able to follow God’s standards which honors and pleases Him (Romans 8:1-3). The Ten Commandments were given to the Jewish nation through Moses in the days following their exodus from Egypt. Go

The remaining three commandments continue to guide us in how we are to relate to others based on our relationship with God. Commandment eight says we are not to steal; commandment nine tells us not to lie; and commandment ten says not to covet. We can fulfill these commands by not taking or keeping things that do not belong to us; being truthful and not gossiping about others; and being satisfied and grateful for what we have. Command number eight says we are not to steal (Exodus 20:15). David Guzik writes that this command establishes the right to personal property and is another important foundation for our society. God has entrusted each of us with possessions of His choosing. These should not be taken from another without consent or by legal means.  God made provision for the security of everyone’s property. There were laws concerning restitution for injuries to another person’s animals (Exodus 21:33-36).  Thieves were not sent to jail, but required to restore what they had ta

Commandment five tells us to honor our parents. Commandment six tells us not to murder. Commandment seven tells us not to commit adultery.We can fulfill these commands by obeying our parents and grandparents, protecting and helping others not to get hurt and keeping the promises we make to others. Romans 3:20 says the law was given to reveal our sin. 1 John 1:9 tells us the law is given to show us our need for a Savior to cleanse us from our sins. Although Christ fulfilled the law, He did not put an end to our need to be obedient to it (Matthew 5:17-20). We still have responsibilities toward God and others as followers of Christ (Romans 6:22; 1 Peter 1:14-16). God’s first four commands in the Ten Commandments show us how we are to conduct ourselves before God. The next six commandments have to do with how we are to relate to others. When we have the right relationship with God; we will be able to love and serve others (Matthew 22:34-40; Romans 13). The fifth commandment is t

The first four commandments tell us how we are to conduct ourselves before God. We can fulfill these first four commands by praying about our needs, thanking and praising God, using God’s name respectfully and taking time to rest and meditate on God’s Word.  –Exodus 20:1-8 The basic code in Israel’s divine law is found in Exodus 20:2-17; elsewhere it is called the Ten Commandments. The Hebrew words for Ten Commandments literally mean “Ten Words”. (Study note for Exodus 20:1) The Ten Commandments begin with the statement “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” (Exodus 20:1) Warren Wiersbe points out that the phrase “I am the Lord your God” is used five times in this section (vv. 3, 5, 7, 10, 12) to show that God is the authority behind these commands and they weren’t just Moses’ opinions. The study note for Exodus 20:2 tells us that the Ten Commandments reflect the structure of the treaties of the time period. First there was a preamb

The purpose of the Ten Commandments was to reveal our sin and point to our need for a Savior. Only by believing in Christ as Savior can we be saved from our sin. – Exodus 19, 20; Galatians 2, 3, 4 God’s people, the Israelites, had been slaves in Egypt for 400 years (Exodus 12:40-41). God chose Moses to lead them out of their slavery and into the Promised Land (Exodus 3:1-10). Three months after the Israelites left Egypt, they came to the Desert of Sinai (Exodus 19:1). Here they camped in front of Mount Sinai, called the “mount of God” (Exodus 19:2). They would remain here for eleven months. “God had redeemed His people, and was now going to claim them as His own and enter into a covenant relationship with them (Exodus 19-24) just as He had promised” (Exodus 6:6-7). (Warren Wiersbe) Moses met with God on the mountain (Exodus 19:3).  God said that if the Israelites would obey His voice and keep His covenant they would be a special treasure; “a kingdom of priests, and a holy nati

Children, obey your parents as the Lord wants, because this is the right thing to do. The command says, "Honor your father and mother. This is the first command that has a promise with it - "Then everything will be well with you, and you will have a long life on the earth." -Ephesians 6:1-3 NCV What does it mean to honor your parents? We can see if we will look at the word honor in the Scriptures. In Hebrew, the word for "honor" is kabed . This word literally means, "to be heavy, weighty, to honor." Even today, we still link the idea of being heavy with honoring a person. When the President of the United States or some others important person speaks, people often say that his words "carry a lot of weight." Someone whose words are weighty is someone worthy of honor and respect. However, we can learn even more about what it means to honor someone by looking at its opposite in Scriptures. . . . (T)he literal meaning of the word curse (